Exile
by Barinadeco
Summary: A people exiled, and a land lost. For a millennium, Hylians have had a peaceful existence, but they long for their home. When rumors and sightings of the things they fled from begin to rise, and a mark appears on a young boy's hand, they wonder if their long peace is over... A new era had begun...
1. Prologue

In a hidden village, among a hidden people, there is a legend...

A legend of Goddesses and demons;

A legend of a Princess and her knight;

A legend of a land and home lost but not forgotten;

 _A Legend of Zelda..._

* * *

This Legend has been passed down for nearly a millennium, since their home, Hyrule, was destroyed. These Hylians, for that is what these hidden people were, all knew the tale of their exodus, their _exile_.

It was three centuries after the defeat of the evil wizard Yuga, who had sought to revive the demon Ganon and join their powers to rule for all eternity. He was stopped of course, by the great Hero, and peace reigned for those blessed three hundred years.

Then in a great twist of fate and irony, on the eve of the three-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Great Peace, Hyrule found itself under attack once more. A great horde of creatures swarmed out of a great portal at the base of Death Mountain.

Hyrule was caught unaware, and the enemy was to great. There was no stopping them. Fearing the loss of his people the King met with the Seven Sages and together they sought the advice of the Three Goddesses. Din, Farore, and Nayru themselves came down and told them of the land through the portal. It seemed the creatures themselves were fleeing a world set on destroying what was percieved as a great evil.

It was that world which would be the Hylians salvation.

A daring plan was made; the King and the Hylian army would attack the horde and buy time for the women, children (including the princess), and the Seven Sages to escape through the very portal that the creatures had arrived through. It worked and the refugees escaped, but the King, the army, and Hyrule itself was lost.

This new world was not kind to the Hylian survivors, however. Their magic was seem as an evil and they were hunted for it. They wandered across the land hunted and scorned, until at last they came to an empty valley nestled away; hidden from the world. There, they settled.

There, they stayed.

The Great Exodus was over; The Great Exile had begun.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Just the Prologue for now. If people actually**_ **like _it, then I'll continue this soon._**

 ** _Oh and those with a sharp eye and mind may already see what's going on here. A tiny cookie if you get it._**


	2. A Shocking Beginning

**Chapter 1: _A Shocking Beginning!_**

* * *

Fire.

A burning building.

Cries for help.

A red sky.

Evil malevolent laughter rising above it all.

The laughter stops and morphs into a hideous booming voice.

" **Your two millennia are up, Hero. My time has arrived. Hyrule... is...** _ **Mine**_ **!"**

* * *

Then the laughter continued, louder than ever before and sounding almost gleeful. It came from everywhere. He tried to run away, but he couldn't. He couldn't...

Thunder boomed overhead, sending him right into a sitting position. He looked out of his bedside window and saw it was still night. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead from the nightmare and calmed himself down. He took a deep breath and let it go. He couldn't go back to sleep tonight. That nightmare felt too real. He could still hear that voice echoing in his head.

A whinny broke him out of his thoughts. He glanced outside again just as a flash of lightning raced across the sky. A horse had somehow gotten out of the stables and was exposed to the elements.

He cursed and dressed himself in a cloak and grabbed his lantern and set out to rescue the terrified horse. It was pouring right now and he would probably end up caked in mud, even if he didn't slip in the muddy field. But he'd end up in severe trouble with his aunt if he didn't do this.

As he left the safety of the house, he thought about his Aunt and Uncle. They had taken him in when his parents died in a fire nearly a decade ago. His Uncle, Corvu, was a great man, kind and honorable. His Aunt, Fresta, however, well... She was never a nice woman, not to him at least. Oh, she was never cruel, that is to be sure, but kind was not a way to describe her attitude. Stern, perhaps was a better word. Strict too. He shook his head clear of those thoughts; he had a job to do.

The horse had not gotten far and was hiding under a large oak. As he got closer the boy saw that the horse was actually a mare; Epona to be precise. She was his Uncle's prize mare. Epona was the fastest horse in the valley by far, and his Uncle was always bragging about her. She was generally a very brave horse from his experience, but storms such as these made her very skittish.

As he approached the mare, she looked up at him from her sitting position. He was calm in his tone as he tried to get her to follow him.

"Come on girl, you shouldn't be out here in this storm," He stroked her mane while speaking softly to her. "What do you say to getting back home, huh?"

Epona shook her head and huffed.

"Oh, now don't be like that. It dangerous out here right now."

She gestured to her back. Lightning flashed and raced through the clouds lighting up the valley.

His voice was hesitant now, "You... do you want me to ride you?"

Epona nodded with a whinny. Another loud crash of thunder rolled across the sky.

He looked up at the dark sky and grimaced, "That'll be... much more dangerous. Are you sure that's the only way you'll go back to the stables?"

She nodded again.

He sighed, "All right then, I guess that's how we're getting home."

She nodded twice and stood up, shaking the rain off herself.

He quickly mounted up and patted her neck, "Okay girl, let's go home."

And off she went at a trot, through the rain as if not a care to the world, or the storm for that matter. And though he nervously glanced several times at the sky, the Hylian and the mare were never struck by lightning as he feared. It wasn't until after Epona was safely locked back up in the stables with a stern warning, that his lucked changed.

As he was walking the hundred feet back to his house, he chanced a look back up at the stormy skies, shielding his eyes with his left hand. Suddenly his hair stood up on end, and there was a great flash of light and searing pain in his hand. The young Hylian fell unconscious and knew no more.

* * *

His Uncle found him first, lying in the field between the house and the stables, caked in mud. He shouted, "Fresta! Fresta. I found him. He's unconcious. Call for a healer." With that Corvu picked him up and carried him back inside the house. Corvu had been looking for the boy since sunrise, as he hadn't been sleeping in. It was mid morning now, and the rest of the valley would begin to wake up. Corvu hoped the healer didn't sleep in today; clearly something was wrong with the boy.

* * *

Grent Grineson was old. Indeed, he was old enough to be High Elder, and that was something to be sure. Everyone in the Valley of Exiles looked to him for wisdom and he looked at the past for wisdom. A historian some might call him. A record keeper perhaps. Whatever they called him it was his job to use the history of his people to lead them to a brighter future. This morning however, the past brought only grief, and he felt every year of his long life pressing down on him.

Time... He just needed more time. The rest of the council didn't understand the urgent need they had of taking back their homeland. Their time was running out. The great evil would return; the prophecy said so! The only hope his people had was of the Blade of Evil's Bane; The Master Sword. It was the only thing that had ever truly defeated the Demon King. Even during the Great Imprisoning War, the whole might of Hyrule at its peak couldn't do more than seal him away, temporarily at that. And even that had come at a great price.

He sat down from where he had been pacing in his room and sighed.

They only had two years now after all...

* * *

The first thing the boy heard was shouting. A group of people were arguing over something. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room he was in. He was in the healer's home he realised. His Aunt and Uncle were both there as well as Healer Naxim and another two adults he didn't recognise.

Naxim saw him awake first and rushed over to him. She was quick as ever, and had checked all of his vitals before he could blink. Finishing her diagnostics she spoke, "Well, sonny, you can count yourself lucky. Few people can be struck by lightning as severely as you were and live to tell the tale."

She was interrupted by one of the men he didn't recognise, who was in a priest's robes. "Lucky? No, this was an act of the Goddesses themselves. Why he's even been marked!"

Naxim waved the man off with, "Yes, yes. As always I leave the Holy matters to you, Rikkter." At that she turned and focused back on the young teen in her care. "Now as for you, I recommend that you don't speak for an hour. As you should remember, potions take a toll on your throat and I don't want you tearing it up any more. You should be fine otherwise."

At this the last unnamed man spoke up in a cheery voice, "Excellent! Then I'll just take Link here to the Elders. They need to see this!"

Rikkter then added, "And I'll be joining you. They won't believe this otherwise. Even, I barely believe it myself! The Triforce of Courage found after all of these years, simply remarkable!"

The Hylian teen was quite confused at this point. He had no idea who and what they were talking about. Naxim came to his rescue, "Ah... It seems you have a new name to go with that new scar on the back of your left hand."

And there it was. On the back of the newly renamed Link's hand near where his thumb met his index finger, was a perfect triangle scarred into his flesh. He looked back up at the smiling healer, his proud Aunt and Uncle, the pious priest, and the absolutely gleeful man whose name he didn't know. Well, he knew one thing for certain; his life got a lot more complicated.

* * *

The Seven Elders were sitting in a circle in their council chamber, with the young boy, the priest, and the gleeful man all off to the side.

Elder Matrine, a short woman whose legs didn't reach the floor, was the High Priestess. Her voice was creaky in her old age, "The signs are clear in this Tarin, the boy is to be our savior."

Elder Tarin in his deep drawling voice countered, "All I see is a brand upon his hand. Any fool can copy from the religious texts. This _Link_ nonsense must stop or we're all to be fools."

The room was silent for several tense seconds as Elders Tarin and Matrine glared at each other.

It was High Elder Grent who broke the silence, peacemaker that he was, "Tarin, while I can understand your skepticism, the signs are indeed clear for those who are paying attention to the wider world. Monsters are being sighted more and more frequently and this valley will not protect us forever. Our people shrink more and more every decade, you know this."

Elder Tarin's veneer became a scowl, "And that is because of those of us who'd rather abandon our people and find life amongst the humans."

"And they are perfectly within their rights to do so, as you also know!" Elder Grent shot back. His voice then softened, "The point is, is that we cannot live like this in this valley forever. A Hero is exactly what our people need to retake our home."

Elder Whitaker, Commander of the Armies (a mostly ceremonial title now),was leaning back in his chair almost bored with the events of the day. He countered in his rough gravely voice, "And with what army will you have us retake the old land? We haven't had more than a paltry town guard since we arrived in this world."

Elder Kravn, Steward of the Crown, cut in at this point, his voice rather smarmy, "And with what money will you pay this army? What food will you feed them with? What weapons will you arm them with? We may not be broke, but we do not have enough of anything to do what you suggest."

Elder Matrine with a sharp tone replied, "The people will give up much to return to Hyrule."

Elder Whitaker sat up at this, "Nothing short of the Royal family returning, Triforce in hand, would get the people willing to do this. That is unlikely, unless you have discovered something, Sabine?"

Elder Sabine was the leader of the Shiekah, the Royal Family Guard. Since the last King died trying to expand outside of the valley, the Shiekah have been searching for a cadet branch to lead them. The last known member ran off into the human lands six-hundred years ago.

Sabine shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "We haven't found a Royal Family member yet, no. It is, after all, a large world out there, and there are not many people still willing to search."

The last of the Elders, Nordis, was a hefty man who oversaw the farming of the valley. He spoke next, "And is the line even still extant?"

All of the elders looked to Matrine at that. She did not have much to give them though, merely stating, "The Goddesses have not told me of the destruction of the Line of Nohansen."

The room was again silent for a while, and again it was Grent who broke the silence, "Well, all of this may be true, but the triforce speaks for itself who among you can't feel its power? We cannot deny the boy has been blessed. A hero he will be. A hero is what we need. A hero wielding the Blade of Evil's Bane."

At this shocked gasps filled the room. It was Tarin who spoke first, "You speak of a sword that had been lost long before our exile began. How do you propose we find it in a land swarming with monsters?"

Grent was slow to respond, "These monsters... have set up of all things... A school. A school to teach their children to hide among the humans, as ridiculous as it sounds. Am I mistaken Sabine?"

Her voice was unsteady and hesitant but she answered, "N-n-no. You are correct as far as my spies know."

Grent continued, "And they accept witches and wizards to the school as well, yes?"

Sabine nodded slowly.

"Then," Grent announced, drawing himself up, "I propose that we send _Link_ " He emphasised with a knowing look at Tarin, "to this school disguised as a wizard of a remote sect, and have him locate and acquire the Master Sword from right under their noses." He paused here, perhaps to let someone interrupt or just to catch his breath.

When no one interrupted, he continued, "Furthermore I propose we send one of your young Shiekahs, Sabine, to accompany him. As I understand it, Link lacks proper training fighting unarmed as he may have to, so having one of your experienced Shiekahs there to make sure he doesn't meet a terrible fate seems wise." He kept his expression even throughout his speech.

Once more silence reigned throughout the chamber. This time it lasted for several minutes as each Elder pondered what had been said. Finally, Whitaker spoke, "This all depends on the agreement of the boy. Goddesses know even I would hesitate to walk into the monsters den unarmed with only a single Shiekah as backup. No offense Sabine." He added with a second thought.

At this Sabine didn't even blink, merely saying, "None taken Whitaker. My Shiekahs are trained as spies now, not bodyguards."

Grent then looked to Link and asked, "Well, son? This plan rides entirely on your cooperation. Will you be the Hero we need?"

Link looked sheepish at this. He didn't truly want to be anything more than the rancher he was training to be. If this was real, however, what else could he do? This was his people's one chance at returning to their ancestral homeland. He really didn't have any other option. He made up his mind.

He nodded.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **Well then. This first chapter took far longer than I had expected it to. And to be perfectly honest? Writing without mentioning Links real name was far too tedious.**

 **That said... Hey, we finally got it going! The adventure begins! Sorta... Well... The beginning of the beginning perhaps?**

 **Anyway, anything surprise you or feel strange? Feedback is always appreciated.**

 **Oh and the unnamed guy who's just really happy? He's played by Tim Curry in my head, so thats a thing.**

 **See you all next Chapter!**


End file.
